5th Annual Renfrew County Stewardship Forum - Our Trails, Our Future

The fifth annual Renfrew County Stewardship Forum, “Our Trails, Our Future”, will focus on
community involvement in developing trails and trail networks in the Ottawa
Valley, with a particular focus on the Ottawa Valley Recreational Trail (OVRT)
along the former CPR rail corridor. The
OVRT offers a great opportunity for local citizens to get involved in what
promises to be one of the Ottawa Valley’s prime recreational assets.

The Forum will have a keynote session on the OVRT (with particular focus
on the segment between Arnprior and Renfrew) and the new Renfrew County Trails Strategy,
with feedback from small group table discussions. We also will have speakers examining trails
from different perspectives, including local municipalities, trail user groups,
and successful examples of community-based trails development. There are many examples: the Shaw Woods
trails, the Footprints in Time trail at Bonnechere Provincial Park, the Kiwanis
Walkway in Pembroke, the Forest Lea ski trails, the McNamara Trail in Arnprior,
the Emerald Necklace trails in Petawawa, the Beachburg County Forest off-road
cycling trails, the Oiseau Rock Trail in Sheenboro, and the Manitou hiking and
snowshoeing trails in Calabogie, to name a few.

Fee for the day is $20 and is payable at the door. Please register in advance by email: info@ottawariverinstitute.ca

The Renfrew County Stewardship Forum was initiated to connect people and
organizations with an interest in the environment, a strong sense of place, and
a concern about the future. Tackling our environmental, social and economic
challenges requires collaborative action among a diversity of people and
organizations with strong convictions and the courage to act on them. The Forum
aims to foster intense interaction, networking and information exchange about
what’s happening to our communities and our environment, so that we can adopt
innovative partnerships and approaches and take effective action. Now is the
time. Together we can shape our future
to sustain our collective values and communities.

The inaugural Renfrew County Stewardship Forum, “Fostering Adaptive Collaboration”, was hosted by the Bonnechere
River Watershed Project (BRWP), the Renfrew County Stewardship Council and
Algonquin College at its Pembroke campus in April 2012. Discussions focused on our changing climate
and the collaborative, non-regulatory approach used by Muskoka Watershed
Council to advance stewardship and to foster innovation. The second Forum, “Fostering Shoreline Conservation”,was hosted by the BRWP and the Centre for
Sustainable Watersheds (now Watersheds Canada) in February 2013 in Pembroke.
Discussions focused on the Centre for Sustainable Watershed’s shoreline
surveys, the Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority’s research on
implications of changing climate on water management, and proposed community
collaboration to address water quality issues in Muskrat Lake. The third Forum, “Celebrating Our Watersheds: Trails and Tributaries”, was hosted by
the BRWP and the Ottawa River Institute (ORI) on in May 2014 in Pembroke. It
featured discussions on active transportation, trail development along the
abandoned CP rail line, and water quality concerns in the Muskrat and Bonnechere
watersheds. The fourth Forum, “Towards
Watershed Planning”, was hosted by BRWP, ORI, Sustainable Eastern Ontario
and the National Capital Environmental Nonprofit Network in Pembroke. It focused on water quality and the County’s
proposed new Official Plan.